Can I create arrows WITHOUT text?

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ship69
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2016 2:41 pm

Can I create arrows WITHOUT text?

Post by ship69 »

Hello

Is it possible to connect text boxes (nodes) WITHOUT any text labelling the arrows between them?
And if so how?

Many thanks

J


PS I am using IHMC Cmap Tools v 6.01.01, on Windows 10.
cmapadmin
Site Admin
Posts: 797
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 2:22 pm

Re: Can I create arrows WITHOUT text?

Post by cmapadmin »

ship69
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2016 2:41 pm

Re: Can I create arrows WITHOUT text?

Post by ship69 »

Suggestion:
Surely it would be easier to do what Mindomo.com does in Concept Map mode - which is if there is no text entered for the arrow it just does a simple arrow.

Trying to help

J
cmapadmin
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Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 2:22 pm

Re: Can I create arrows WITHOUT text?

Post by cmapadmin »

We promote the construction of concept maps, and concept maps *always* have linking phrases to form propositions.
ship69
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2016 2:41 pm

Re: Can I create arrows WITHOUT text?

Post by ship69 »

We promote the construction of concept maps, and concept maps *always* have linking phrases to form propositions.
To be frank this form of ridid thinking smacks of intellectual snobbery and will be stopping more widespread use of CMAPTools.

Backstory
I have been looking high and low for a decent concept mapper application without success. Six months on, out of pure desperaction, I had another look at CMAPTools to remind myself what the problem was.

Problems:

A) Not obvious
Guessing how to connect shapes with text is not remotely obvious. So you will have lost many of your potential users right there. (Answer: hold down shift whilst drawing the connection)

B) Not editable
But even more irritating is that you can't just edit the connecting line when the text becomes available you have to re-draw the connector from scratch. i.e. You can't just double click nor right-click on the connector and hope to add a line.

The reality is that sometimes one needs to connect boxes either without text or without any text being available YET. Indeed adding text to every concept relationship can become very pedantic and can clutter up the message one is trying to communicate. Either way adding text later is a pain the way CMAPTools currently works.

There is a serious lack of "concept mapping" and "topic mapping" tools. It seems that there is almost nothing out there that lets the user bang in lots of concepts just using the board, and edit their exact relationships later.

Trying to help

J
cmapadmin
Site Admin
Posts: 797
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 2:22 pm

Re: Can I create arrows WITHOUT text?

Post by cmapadmin »

So what you are looking is a for a simple way (shortcut?) to add the linking phrase (text) to the connecting line?
dgroos
Posts: 128
Joined: Sun May 31, 2009 9:12 pm
Location: Minnesota USA

Re: Can I create arrows WITHOUT text?

Post by dgroos »

@ship69, I know your frustration. Yet, that thing us designers of all types must do, scaffolding, requires us to make decisions based on intended use of our design (ie tool). Yet yet, there is a continuum from creating affordances in a tool for intended outcomes and scaffolding said tool to for organic/creative use--or obfuscating it.

I remember showing my dad when I was in kindergarten that a better way to use a hammer is to hit the nail with the side of the head, not the small front surface (with which it was ideally designed)! I know that shift-drag/drop is the designed way but let's make that affordance more discoverable, thanks for asking for suggestions! How about if there were a brief instruction e.g. "Shift-drag to create unbroken lines" on the styles palette on the 'lines' tab? I use CmapTools as one of my central thinking tools--and for my students, too, so cmaptools doesn't loose anything I think by increasing its versatility. Yes, conceptual relations must have propositional phrases.
ship69
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2016 2:41 pm

Re: Can I create arrows WITHOUT text?

Post by ship69 »

Well, after 2 years I'm back.

I don't know what user-testing CMAP Tools developers have been doing but sadly I can see that CMAP Tools seems to have learned very little in the meantime. With fresh eyes it seems bonkers to FORCE users to enter a description to any new connector (unless by some miracle they have stumbled across holding down shift whilst dragging out a new connecting line!)

And even more disappointing is that it remains impossible to click (or double-click) on a connecting arrow and ADD a description to that line.

Your developers really need to decide. Do you want to make it easy to create connecting arrows between topics... or not?!

Competitor: Scapple
TBH, what has driven me back is deep frustration with your (in many ways brilliant) competitor Scapple, which sadly has a few bugs and is looking increasingly dated, but which the (arrogant) developers say is perfect and have refused to develop beyond version 1.0.0.0 that was released nearly 6 years ago.

Competitor: MindManager (v2019)
Meanwhile Mindjet's MindManager is also stalking your space. MindManager is horrendously expensive but is probably the most powerful mind-mapping tool that there is. They have released the ability to create "free form" and "concept maps" that is also starting to tread on the CMAP Tools territory. They are sensible enough to not FORCE users to add a text description to arrow links.
That said MindManager's concept maps have their own problems. And what you create always feels more like a flow diagram

Trying to help

J
cmapadmin
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Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 2:22 pm

Re: Can I create arrows WITHOUT text?

Post by cmapadmin »

We did listen to you and we welcome your suggestions. Check this FAQ entry on how to make the change to no 'text description' permanent.

https://cmap.ihmc.us/docs/cmaptools-faqs#1-8

CmapTools continues to be a concept-mapping tool, and concept maps always have linking phrases between concepts. We understand you use it differently, and we try to accommodate. But it will continue to be a concept mapping tool.
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